REVIEW: CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)

“Does announcing your identity with branded clothing help with the covert part of the job?”

“…said the space soldier who’s wearing a rubber suit.”

Captain Marvel is the newest installment to the Marvel Universe, and tells the origin story of a young woman, Carol Danvers, as she helps fight along her Kree brethren to defeat the Skrulls. As she searches for the Skrulls here on earth, she is faced with her past and the woman she used to be. Now she must fully decipher her past in order to bring this long war to rest. Therefore, by doing so, bringing unity and peace to the galaxy. Now there has been so much drama surrounding this film. To be honest I could care less about who said what. When it comes down to it, all I care about is the overall quality of the film. But as I sat down to watch Captain Marvel, I couldn’t help but feel that this film was a bit lackluster.

Before I get into what disappointed me, I want to first touch on the moments that I thought were good. The most decent parts of the film were at the beginning. Now, I have heard mixed feelings on the relationship between Danvers and Nick Fury. Those moments being described as what I can only say is the “buddy cop” sequences of the film. Both Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson were so good. It was the typical wit and banter that these Marvel superheroes usually have with one another. In addition to its humor, the fight sequences were okay, but I’ll touch on those fight scenes again later. So for the most part the first ¾ of the film were entertaining, but as a whole, it was not much to see.

I’m going to put a lot of the blame on the direction and writing. I think it was underwhelming and to be honest, a character that is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, needed a better story to tell. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who have exhibited talented directing in films such as Half Nelson, failed to deliver with Captain Marvel. People are going to place the blame solely on Larson’s acting. But if you look at all of the talented actors who are in this film, all of their performances were rather bland. I think this is one of Jude Law’s weakest performances. And speaking of bland, the film is riddled with it. The fight scenes were below par for a Marvel movie. And by saying that, I can immediately go to our most recent Marvel origin story, Black Panther. Black Panther, though derivative of a previous Disney movie (which I shall not name) gave us a hero movie of epic proportions. Those fight scenes throughout the film gave me chills. I was blown away!So when watching Captain Marvel, I couldn’t help but ask why these fight sequences were not jaw dropping. But even with these many hiccups, the biggest disappointment came from the ending.

So once the first ¾ of the film were finished, for some reason I was left with the feeling of, “hurry! Hurry! We’ve got to wrap this up in the next 15 minutes.” It totally glazes over the incredible moments of her being in full control of her powers and turning into the Captain Marvel we know her to be. And that fight scene that’s built up from the very beginning, no, it’s just completely rushed. And speaking of the ending, it had some of the cheesiest moments I have ever seen in a superhero movie, and that’s saying a lot. The ending was just not the conclusion that the audience deserved.

I wanted Captain Marvel to do well. But I believe that all the people in charge really did a disservice to this character. I don’t know if Marvel gave this movie their full attention, did this movie just so people would get off their backs about having a movie centered on a female superhero, or maybe all the love Marvel gave just wasn’t enough. I look forward to what Captain Marvel may bring to this universe. But with the rumored departures of a few key characters, it’s important that they flesh out Captain Marvel, or the future of the MCU will be a bit bumpy. This could have been an unbelievable film. All the potential was right there. But in the end, and I hate to say this, Captain Marvel was a letdown.